Return to Solstheim
by Sekirei1988
Summary: Five years after Miraak's defeat, Eriah returns to the Morrowind island to pay her respects. She encounters Talvas at the Temple of Miraak and they discuss their positions in each other's lives. Takes place before The King is Dead, Long Live The King. One-shot. COMPLETE


Eriah woke up in Severin Manor. Lying on her back, the Dragonborn sighed as she looked at the ceiling. The year was 4E 206 and the day marked the fifth anniversary of when she defeated Miraak, the First of her kind. She had finally returned to Solstheim to pay her respects, she supposed. Miraak was one of her more...unique enemies. Of everyone she had ever fought to this point, he was the one she respected the most. The only one to rank higher was Alduin and her appreciation for the World-Eater had struck like lightning just seconds before she defeated him. Defeating Miraak had left Eriah feeling rather empty, though technically, Hermaeus Mora had been the one to strike the final blow. It was the simple fact that the First Dragonborn was the only one of her kind that she would ever know in her lifetime. He left her conflicted about many things. As it were, his soul was safely within her and she already swore to Mora that he would never get his tentacles on either of them when her time came.

Sitting up and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, Eriah got up and went to the mannequin holding her new Dragonbone armor. On the rack next to it was a Dragonbone warhammer. Though she respected her dragon friends, she found that the bones of dragons made for some good armor. Paarthurnax, as wise as he was, told her he wasn't bothered by her wearing the bones of their brethren. Odahviing found it a bit tasteless but grudgingly admitted she couldn't have asked for better smithing material. Durnehviir had yet to see it. The Dragonborn turned to the chest at the foot of her bed. She had brought a dress with her for the purpose of her visit. Pulling it out, Eriah stripped out of her nightgown and pulled the dress on. She had a long walk so she had gotten up early to start making her way to Miraak's Temple. Deciding to get moving, she grabbed her hammer and left the house. It was early in the morning. The market stalls in Raven Rock were closed and everyone was still either in the Retching Netch drinking, in the mine digging out ebony ore, or at home asleep. The ones out and about were members of the Redoran Guard. She nodded a greeting to a couple of them before leaving the bulwark.

After a couple of hours, Eriah paused at the bottom of the hill. Soaring into the sky was the Temple of Miraak. That was where her journey had really picked up steam. Heading up the hill and climbing the stairs, the Dragonborn paused at the top. The Tree Stone was still surrounded by the courtyard but the wooden scaffolding that had been used to carve the stone area had since rotted to pieces. The Dragonborn repressed a shudder. The Temple was abandoned and the Tree Stone freed, yes, but there was still lingering feelings of magic that enslaved the minds of Solstheim's residents. She felt vulnerable. Taking a deep breath, Eriah descended the stairs and crossed the courtyard to stand before the Tree Stone. She slowly reached out and placed her hand on it, waiting for his voice to ensnare her mind as it had so many people. He almost had her once when she accidentally touched the Beast Stone. Her will had been too strong and she broke free of his control in short order. Still, how easily she had fallen to the hypnotic sound of his voice had shaken her to her core.

Nothing happened when she touched the Tree Stone, proving his will and power over it was indeed broken. Eriah entertained the idea that touching the Stone would've aroused him from his self-imposed slumber deep within her soul but it seemed his dormancy was absolute. More than once, Eriah wondered if she had dreamt that encounter in the soul-plane. Paarthurnax had said otherwise and the brand on her neck was further proof. She knew her friend and mentor had lied to her face about the brand's meaning. Miraak had claimed her for his own. In some twisted sense, Eriah knew that she belonged to the First Dragonborn in ways that even Farkas couldn't claim. Miraak belonged to her, too. That was the nature of their bond. As children of Akatosh and as Dragonborn, the two had a connection no other could match.

Eriah took a deep breath before studying the Tree Stone. The All-Maker was the lone diety that the Skaal, a branch of the Nords, worshipped on the island. Their monotheistic religion was new to Eriah, a follower of the Nine, but it fascinated her all the same. She privately thought the All-Maker was what the Skaal called Lorkhan. He was the one who instigated the creation of Mundus with the et-Ada. Those who fled Creation became the Daedra and those who saw it through became the Aedra. The Skaal's stories could apply it all to Lorkhan alone, including the spheres of the Divines. Eriah would never speak of her theory to her Skaal friends out of respect, just as they respected her polytheism. Kneeling before the stone and setting her warhammer behind her, the Dragonborn bowed her head. True, the All-Maker wasn't a deity she knew or officially recognized but respect was still due to him as it was due to the Nine. She prayed to him and to each of the Divines in turn for Storn, the Skaal shaman who gave his life to help her reach Miraak.

Grabbing her hammer, standing up, and preparing to make her way back to Raven Rock in order to change into her armor for her trip to the Skaal Village, Eriah turned and looked up. She jumped a little when she saw Talvas Fathryon standing at the top. She hadn't sensed him arrive so she was startled. Talvas gave a small wave before making his way down to her. Eriah's mind flashed back to their last meeting. The Dunmer apprentice wizard had confessed his love for her, which led to a very charged confrontation. A kiss was forced, a punch was thrown, and two stubborn people practically swore to never apologize for either. The Dragonborn didn't regret socking Talvas in the face for letting his feelings get the best of him. He had been out of line and he knew it. Still, the two parted as friends, no matter how strained things had gotten. Eriah gifted him a dagger she made from some leftover ebony after forging her Daedric armor and the key to the manor. When she had returned, Second Councilor Adril Arano met her at the dock and presented a copy to her. He just said that Talvas had a copy made in the event she came back.

Talvas came to a halt in front of her. "I somehow knew you'd come back," he said. Unable to help himself, the Dunmer pulled the Dragonborn into a tight hug. Eriah just smiled softly before returning it. "It's been too long, old friend," she agreed. Talvas pulled away to look her over. "It's strange seeing you in a dress," he noted. The Dragonborn looked down at herself with a smile. "Change of pace and it felt right, given my purpose for being here," she said. The Dunmer then saw her hammer. "Is that...dragon bone?" he asked. "Aye. Since becoming a master smith, I started to experiment with the bones of dragons I defeated. I have a set of armor at the manor. I was about to go back to change. I still have to pay the Skaal a visit. See how Frea is doing," she explained, setting the hammer against the Stone.

She looked up at her friend and saw that same look in his red eyes as if she were the most important person in his world. She figured things hadn't changed where his heart was concerned. The Dunmer were a long-lived people. From his perspective, her complete rejection of his feelings might as well have happened yesterday but the hope she'd answer him someday had remained as strong as ever. "I waited all this time for you to come back to me," Talvas said, reaching out to pull her into a kiss. The Dragonborn stopped him with a hand to his chest. More specifically, her left hand where her matrimonial ring lived. It was obvious he thought she had come back for him. The Dunmer, initially confused, looked down and spotted it. Reaching up, he took her wrist and brought it up to study the ring. Eriah just watched him patiently. He wasn't even trying to hide his disappointment and heartache. But it had to be done. He had to see he wasn't doing either of them any favors by carrying that torch. As if she weren't being hypocritical in that arena herself. "How long?" he asked.

"Five years. We met not long after the war ended and I joined the Companions. We became friends, secrets were learned, we fell in love, and got married. We even adopted two children," she replied. Talvas came to the conclusion she spoke of a different man than the one she had been carrying a torch for the last time. The Dunmer clasped her hand in both of his and leaned his forehead against them. "Even though we parted on rather strained terms, Eriah, I never gave up hope that perhaps you'd come to feel something for me and come back. I see now that it was all hopeless," he said, with a wistful sigh.

Eriah could tell his heart was broken. Even back then, she had never meant for him to get hurt but she knew it was inevitable all the same. "Is he good to you?" Talvas asked. The Dragonborn wondered if he was genuinely concerned for her well-being or if he was fishing for some excuse to keep her with him. "He is. The best thing that ever happened to me. Please, Talvas, let's not have a repeat of last time. I know we both said we wouldn't apologize for what was said and done but that didn't stop me from feeling bad for hitting you. I was planning on stopping by Tel Mithryn on my way to the Skaal to apologize anyway. That was part of the reason I came back," she said. The apprentice's red eyes came up to meet her browns. "I can't fully apologize in return, Eriah. I was out of line and desperate. I will give you that but I can't apologize for being a man in love," he said. The Dragonborn just gave him a small smile before closing the gap to lean her forehead into his shoulder in a friendly manner. "Nor do I expect it. Trust me, my friend, I'm still honored by your earnest feelings even though I just end up hurting you. I'm still struggling with my unrequited feelings for one man and then there's my love for my husband. On top of that...there's this lingering feeling that perhaps Mora is right about where Miraak's concerned," she admitted.

Talvas looked a bit confused. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. Eriah stepped back before gently taking one of his hands from her own. "Look around us. Look where we are. I've grown to respect the man and respect isn't bound by the rules of enmity or friendship. But...what if Mora is right and there's something else deep down? What if I...?" she questioned. "Don't say such things. You know Hermaeus Mora is lying. You feel no such thing towards your enemy," Talvas cut her off. The Dragonborn looked up at him. "You're right, of course. However, my current relationship with Miraak got a bit more complicated not long after I returned home." she conceded. She pulled her collar to the side, revealing the brand. She explained how she came to possess it, pacing here and there as the Dark Elf watched her. "So, he branded you in exchange for going dormant?" he asked. "Precisely. I loathe to admit it but in some twisted sense, I am his...and he is mine. This brand means he and I are connected even more intimately than our shared birthright as Dragonborn alone. I only wonder if something changed in me," Eriah replied.

The Dunmer ran a hand over his face. The Dragonborn had sounded unsure but there was no way in Oblivion that she had fallen in love with the now-dead Dragon Priest. He didn't have to back up this conviction. He was just that sure of it. Still, the idea that this long-gone Dragon Priest had the audacity to claim the woman he cherished so much made anger swell in Talvas's heart. He still didn't know who Eriah's previous love had been, he knew she was married to a man that she loved with everything she was, and now it seemed that Miraak had muscled in somewhere down the line. There was just no room for him and it hurt. The Dunmer went to lean his forehead to the Tree Stone. He just couldn't win with the kind of competition he had.

Eriah kept her eyes on his back. The whole situation was like something out of a badly written novel where the woman was caught between four men. There was the one she had unrequited feelings for, one who had unrequited feelings towards her, true love with a third, and very confused feelings regarding the fourth who happened to be an enemy. It was pretty surreal, truth be told, and Eriah was convinced she was the butt of some cosmic joke. Her feelings for Ulfric sometimes warred with her feelings for Farkas, making it difficult at times to remember she had made the right choice in the end. It hadn't been that long ago when she came clean to Farkas over the whole situation and he didn't let the revelations he learned compromise his love for her. He had said he was a simple man and wanted nothing more than Eriah's love. As long as he was first in her heart, he didn't mind competing with her unspoken feelings for Ulfric. She didn't deserve Farkas by any stretch but he made it crystal clear he wasn't going to leave her.

Miraak was more of an enigma. Eriah was beginning to doubt her own convictions that she felt nothing more than respect for his ambition and the fact he was the First of their kind. The prophecy that bound her to Alduin had been clear that she was the Last. She had fulfilled the purpose Akatosh had created her for and when she was gone, that was it. A Dragonborn would never walk Mundus again, not even when the end came and Alduin was free to fulfill his own destiny. Eriah would forever puzzle if her view on Miraak had changed somewhere along the way. Talvas was more straightforward. He had openly admitted his love for her to her face and even now, those feelings were worn on his sleeve and had remained steadfast.

"My one desire remains to have you at my side, even though I've lived far longer than you have already and will continue to live long after you. What would it take to make you mine?" Talvas said, his back to her. The Dragonborn's walls tightened defensively but she took a deep breath to keep from slapping him silly. "The only way I would ever be yours...is for you to rewrite my entire story so that I'm not Dragonborn. This destiny was given to me by Akatosh and I've followed it faithfully. I'm Dovahkiin, Monrahtiid, Qahnaarin. I stand as the protector of mortals. I'm the slayer of Alduin. The killer of vampires. A Companion. A Stormcloak. A mother and wife. I'm many things to many people. All this has led me to those I've grown to love and trust. I would ask for no other life. I love you, Talvas, but not in the way you want. I can't make you accept this reality. That's something you have to do yourself. I...I can't help you," she explained.

Talvas looked over his shoulder at her. She was burning holes into the stone underfoot. Her entire posture was stiff as if she expected him to lash out against her and Akatosh both. He briefly entertained the idea. He had grown to despise Akatosh over the years for laying this destiny on Eriah's shoulders because it had taken her down a path that didn't lead to him. It was rather funny since the Dunmer people didn't have an interpretation of the dragon god. They more or less ignored him in favor of the Reclamations and the House of Troubles. Talvas's interactions with the Dragonborn led him to regard Akatosh as a very real deity because none in the Reclamations or the House of Troubles would've worked in his place in regards to the prophecy that led to Eriah's very existence.

Dark thoughts started massing in his head. He contemplated forcibly taking her then and there. She was unarmed, unarmored, and sealing her Voice would be a simple matter. They were alone with no one around for miles. While she was hardly vulnerable even with those factors, Talvas did have a distinct advantage of being a man and could overpower her if he had to if he was smart about it. An even better strategy would be to simply seduce her, make her compliant enough to give herself over to him of her own free will. It would be his just reward for the years of languishing over his unreturned feelings. They said that Oblivion had no fury like a woman scorned. What did that imply about a man equally scorned? Even if she grew to hate him, it would've been worth it. He would've had her just once and he would've had some measure of revenge against the god at the root of all this. He doubted her husband would want her back if he learned another man had touched her. Best case scenario was that he would be deemed a far superior lover and she'd stay on that merit.

Talvas suddenly snapped out of it and internally recoiled in horror. His overall expression hadn't changed to reflect those dark thoughts, thank Azura, but he was appalled at where his mind had taken him. He had seriously considered forcing himself on the woman he had loved for so long. It dawned on him how much time he had wasted over this, how his feelings for her had been corrupted because he hadn't wanted to deal with the pain. Eriah had made her choice and she would forever stick by it. Talvas had no choice but to step aside. Then came the realization that he owed Akatosh more than he realized because the destiny he gave the Last Dragonborn facilitated their meeting. Had Eriah been an ordinary woman, they probably never would've met. Talvas knew deep down that it was because she was Dragonborn that he was able to meet her. In a roundabout way, he also owed Hermaeus Mora for luring her there and Miraak for giving her a reason to remain until he was dealt with. Talvas had fallen in love with her as a result of her kindness and he had considered repaying that kindness with his own selfish desires.

Reaching out, the Dunmer took Eriah's arm and pulled her tightly to his chest. The Dragonborn held him in kind, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Eriah. I'm a really selfish, pathetic man. I just can't accept that you belong to someone else. But I have to, for both our sakes. I see now that I just make you suffer while I agonize over what I can never have. So I'll do the right thing and free you from this burden I've selfishly placed on your shoulders. You've carried enough weight for two lifetimes without me giving you more. But know this..." he said. He took her face in his hands and laid a kiss on her forehead, his lips lingering there for a second. "You protected me when my Ash Guardian experiment went south so if the time ever comes that you find yourself alone, you always have a place at Tel Mithryn. I will protect you the way you protected me," he swore. Eriah found herself being maneuvered so her back was against the Tree Stone but she kept her gaze steady on his red eyes. "Before I go, you need to know this last thing," Talvas said, his hands gripping her shoulders. "I care only for your happiness and I promise that I will move on eventually. It may take a long time but I know I will come to terms with the hand I was dealt. I'm sorry to have constantly let you down with my stubbornness. I respect your decision to walk the path you have chosen and I'm glad you found happiness. You don't have to worry about me anymore. I promise I'll be alright," he said, with a small smile.

Eriah closed her eyes as he laid another gentle kiss on her forehead. "I love you," he whispered. The conjuror put some space between them and turned his back, giving a small wave in farewell. The Dragonborn watched him as he went up the stairs and disappeared. Her eyes slowly went to the ground. She picked up her hammer again and then made her way to the top of the stairs, leaving the Temple behind. For the first time in a long time, she heard Miraak laughing deep within her. It was a cruel laugh, cold and sharp as a knife. It conjured memories of when she got the brand on her neck. She could feel Miraak's teeth in her flesh and his body pressed to hers with not even an inch between them. Still, Eriah didn't acknowledge him and kept walking. She reached Raven Rock and headed for Severin Manor. Unlocking the door, she stepped inside and headed downstairs. It wasn't until she came into the master bedroom that things came crashing down around her. Eriah fell to the floor and started to cry. _"I'm sorry, Talvas. I'm so sorry!"_

Meanwhile, leaning against a large mushroom, the Dunmer in question stood with his arms folded as the winds carried a heavy sorrow to him. A gentle smile was on his face as his heightened awareness as a wizard let him perceive the feelings Eriah was feeling at the moment. She cried for his sake as a way to apologize for things she was at no fault for. He knew he had brought this down on them both and he hoped she'd forgive him someday. She had suffered enough on his account for the time being but someday, he would have to come clean about the darkness that nearly ensnared his heart this day. Talvas willingly accepted the fact that even if things had worked to his favor from the beginning, Eriah never would've been happy with him. He was still a young man by Dunmer standards but by human standards, he was already very old. He would've outlived her, barring a scenario where he got himself killed. She didn't strike him as the kind of woman who wouldn't be bothered by that. Whoever her husband was, he was a lucky man and more worthy of her than a lowly apprentice wizard who entertained ideas of trapping her. If he could take back everything he had done, he would but he couldn't and he had to own up to his mistakes. Perhaps, they would meet again as friends and all this would be a thing of the past. Covering his eyes with a hand, Talvas let his own tears flow. Being in love was the most beautiful, painful thing to be in.

* * *

**Dovahzul:**

**Monrahtiid:** Daughter God Time (proper dovah name given to Eriah by Paarthurnax)

**Qahnaarin:** vanquisher


End file.
